[DeTomaso] Nickle plating on suspension arms

[Tom Borcich]

Thomas, I'm with you on the less bling look to an extent. I'm personally not a fan of lots of chrome.  I also don't like
to polish aluminum or magnesium all the time (been there, hate that). But I do like some plating.
Part of my problem is the paint available where I live in California is crap because the government has forced the 
manufacturers to remove certain "dangerous" chemicals from the paint that in my opinion gave the paint durability 
and long life. I just painted a pair of steel gates with industrial rustoleum oil base paint and it peels off with pressure 
from my fingernail even after 120 days when it was supposed to be totally cured...total garbage.

That leaves a few other choices, powder coating, two part paints, or plating. As Charles mentioned his power coating only lasted
a 5000 miles (very short time). I have a brand new gate/fence section that was powder coated less than a year ago and it is 
already showing surface rust! Cad plating tends to be less bling but I think will rusts or tarnishes depending on moisture I 
guess. I've not had personal experience with cad plating. Not sure if you have ever seen nickle plating, it comes in 
polished, satin and is more industrial look, kind of like a brand new piece of aluminum. You can polish nickle, but as my plater does it, 
if you bead blast the part first, then plate over it and don't do a finish polish, it has great surface protection, looks 
nice and should last for decades. Personally I have never seen a rusty or tarnished nickle coin, unless it was sitting in moisture 
constantly. I had a McLaren Can Am car that had nickle plated suspension pieces and after 15 - 20 years they did have a slightly dull or 
tarnished look, but for the most part looked pretty darn good and most importantly did not chip or peel, evern if you hit it with a wrench. Its a very rugged finish.

Best Regards,
 
Tom